Sunday, April 15, 2007
It's been a good weekend.
Nice weather. My cold has subsided. Saw a very good movie and most of another good movie (I'll explain in a bit). "Doctor Who" was really good. Nothing much else to ask for...
Well... I suppose that's a lie, but the chance of getting any of that seems as likely as the Beatles reforming. Lorraine and I have still not talked about our problems. I'm not going to be bitter and I'm not going to fret about it. We are actually getting on just fine. I can wait until she wants to talk. It's a chickenshit way out, and I know it, but I don't want to initiate any more bad feeling.
Movies first. I'll do this in reverse. It'll make sense. I promise.
Today I went to see "Vertigo" at The Electric.
Although Hitchcock made good films before and after the 1950's, I think that the 50's were his true purple patch. Between 1950 and 1959 Hitchcock directed 11 movies. Here they are.
"Stage Fright" (1950).
"Strangers On A Train" (1951).
"I Confess" (1953).
"Dial M For Murder" (1954).
"Rear Window" (1954).
"To Catch A Thief" (1955).
"The Trouble With Harry" (1955).
"The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956).
"The Wrong Man" (1956).
"Vertigo" (1958).
"North By Northwest" (1959).
I challenge you to find a single clunker on that list. You won't, because there aren't any. I know the mechanics of Hollywood in the 50's were different, and there was a much faster turnaround of product, but 11 great films (some true classics) by the same Director in 10 years is going some and more. He never won an Oscar, but Hitchcock was a really great Director. That fact should never be forgotten.
I have seen "Vertigo" on TV many a time, but never on the big screen. Going to The Electric today was a real treat. I've not been to The Electric for ages and I truly believe that the Independent cinemas' should be supported.
"Vertigo" might be Hitchcock's strangest film. Ostensibly it is a melodrama. (An ex-Detective, traumatised by the accidental death of a colleague, and suffering from a chronic fear of heights, is hired by an old friend to follow the friend's wife, as she has started behaving strangely.) Of course, the story is much deeper than that. "Vertigo" is about mental illness, obsession, betrayal and, yes, necrophilia. In a great career it could be James Stewart's greatest performance. "Vertigo" also looks beautiful and the colour scheme tells it's own story. (Red=health, green=illness.)
It's a masterpiece. 'Nuff said.
Yesterday I saw most of "The Lives Of Others" or "Das Leben der Anderen".
I could review the film, but I won't because I didn't see the whole film. The reason is that annoyingly the projector showing "Das Leben der Anderen" broke down with half an hour to go, and nobody at UGC Cinemas at Five Ways, Birmingham had a clue how to fix the problem. Need I say that there were some very angry people? Thepoor sacrificial lamb employee who processed the refunds looked like she was about to burst into tears. I felt sorry for her. What was the point of shouting at that poor girl? No point. Even though I possess an Unlimited UGC card, which allows me to see unlimited films at UGC Cinemas, I got a complimentary ticket for a future performance of any film I wanted to see. Lorraine said that she will make an effort to pick a film and we will see it together. This is good. We haven't seen a film together for ages.
From what I saw of it "Das Leben der Anderen" was good.
Actually, the failure to finish seeing "Das Leben der Anderen" has kind of worked in our favour. The Electric is showing the film later this week and had an offer whereby if you book for the 20:30 screening on Friday evening, you would get free admittance to the gig starting at 23:00 by The Electric Cinema Film Orchestra, which is a band formed by The Electric's owner, soundtrack composer Tom Lawes. The band will play live to specially cut footage from films like "Apocalypse Now", "Walk the Line", "The Wall", "Pulp Fiction" and "The Blues Brothers". It's either going to be awful or it's going to be brilliant.
I asked Lorraine if she would like to go. She said yes. Easy as that! I've booked a sofa seat. We are old people. We need probably need to sit and rest, although I might tap a foot.
So, we are doing things together, like a proper couple. That's good.
Nice weather. My cold has subsided. Saw a very good movie and most of another good movie (I'll explain in a bit). "Doctor Who" was really good. Nothing much else to ask for...
Well... I suppose that's a lie, but the chance of getting any of that seems as likely as the Beatles reforming. Lorraine and I have still not talked about our problems. I'm not going to be bitter and I'm not going to fret about it. We are actually getting on just fine. I can wait until she wants to talk. It's a chickenshit way out, and I know it, but I don't want to initiate any more bad feeling.
Movies first. I'll do this in reverse. It'll make sense. I promise.
Today I went to see "Vertigo" at The Electric.
Although Hitchcock made good films before and after the 1950's, I think that the 50's were his true purple patch. Between 1950 and 1959 Hitchcock directed 11 movies. Here they are.
"Stage Fright" (1950).
"Strangers On A Train" (1951).
"I Confess" (1953).
"Dial M For Murder" (1954).
"Rear Window" (1954).
"To Catch A Thief" (1955).
"The Trouble With Harry" (1955).
"The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956).
"The Wrong Man" (1956).
"Vertigo" (1958).
"North By Northwest" (1959).
I challenge you to find a single clunker on that list. You won't, because there aren't any. I know the mechanics of Hollywood in the 50's were different, and there was a much faster turnaround of product, but 11 great films (some true classics) by the same Director in 10 years is going some and more. He never won an Oscar, but Hitchcock was a really great Director. That fact should never be forgotten.
I have seen "Vertigo" on TV many a time, but never on the big screen. Going to The Electric today was a real treat. I've not been to The Electric for ages and I truly believe that the Independent cinemas' should be supported.
"Vertigo" might be Hitchcock's strangest film. Ostensibly it is a melodrama. (An ex-Detective, traumatised by the accidental death of a colleague, and suffering from a chronic fear of heights, is hired by an old friend to follow the friend's wife, as she has started behaving strangely.) Of course, the story is much deeper than that. "Vertigo" is about mental illness, obsession, betrayal and, yes, necrophilia. In a great career it could be James Stewart's greatest performance. "Vertigo" also looks beautiful and the colour scheme tells it's own story. (Red=health, green=illness.)
It's a masterpiece. 'Nuff said.
Yesterday I saw most of "The Lives Of Others" or "Das Leben der Anderen".
I could review the film, but I won't because I didn't see the whole film. The reason is that annoyingly the projector showing "Das Leben der Anderen" broke down with half an hour to go, and nobody at UGC Cinemas at Five Ways, Birmingham had a clue how to fix the problem. Need I say that there were some very angry people? The
From what I saw of it "Das Leben der Anderen" was good.
Actually, the failure to finish seeing "Das Leben der Anderen" has kind of worked in our favour. The Electric is showing the film later this week and had an offer whereby if you book for the 20:30 screening on Friday evening, you would get free admittance to the gig starting at 23:00 by The Electric Cinema Film Orchestra, which is a band formed by The Electric's owner, soundtrack composer Tom Lawes. The band will play live to specially cut footage from films like "Apocalypse Now", "Walk the Line", "The Wall", "Pulp Fiction" and "The Blues Brothers". It's either going to be awful or it's going to be brilliant.
I asked Lorraine if she would like to go. She said yes. Easy as that! I've booked a sofa seat. We are old people. We need probably need to sit and rest, although I might tap a foot.
So, we are doing things together, like a proper couple. That's good.
Labels: Lorraine, Movies, Music
# posted by Pynchon @ 9:45 pm 
Comments:
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Sounds like a pretty good weekend; let us know what that movie is like when you finally see it all and say hi to Lorraine for me.
Glad you're feeling better.
I keep wishing Doctor Who episodes were double the length though to get more in there and make more of the evening.
Do you think if I ask the Beeb nicely they'll do it for me?
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I keep wishing Doctor Who episodes were double the length though to get more in there and make more of the evening.
Do you think if I ask the Beeb nicely they'll do it for me?
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